System and method for incident reporting and notification

ABSTRACT

A system and method for incident reporting system includes at least one client device and at least one server computer. The at least one client device includes at least one processor, a camera unit, and a microphone, and is programmed or configured to generate location data for the at least one client device while the at least one client device is in a moving transportation vehicle; generate at least one user interface configured to receive incident data comprising at least one of the following: a location of an incident, a time of occurrence of an incident, a textual description of an incident, a party involved in an incident, or any combination thereof; capture and store at least one image of an incident with the camera unit; and automatically capture and store noise data with the microphone while the at least one client device is in the moving transportation vehicle.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 62/083,466, filed Nov. 24, 2014, entitled “System and Method forIncident Reporting and Notification,” the entire disclosure of which isherein incorporated by reference.

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent document disclosure, as it appears in the Patent andTrademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves allcopyright rights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to material transportation and, morespecifically, to a system and method for generating reports based onstored data and/or data relating to incidents.

Description of Related Art

The transportation of materials by vehicles, such as trucks, can becostly and involve many complications. The safe and efficienttransportation of materials often requires monitoring incidents andreporting problems so that all relevant individuals are informed ofimportant situations. When materials are continually transported,accidents can occur at any time for a variety of reasons. Accidents caninvolve vehicles (collisions, spills, near misses, etc.), individuals atsite locations (slip-and-falls, mechanical issues, etc.), and/orequipment. When accidents occur, employees need to be notified of suchsituations so that they can avoid a problem area and/or not be involvedin a similar situation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Generally, the present invention provides an improved system and methodfor incident reporting and notification for use in transportationapplications.

According to a preferred and non-limiting embodiment or aspect of thepresent invention, provided is an incident reporting system, comprising:at least one client device comprising at least one processor, a cameraunit, and a microphone, the at least one client device programmed orconfigured to: generate location data for the at least one client devicewhile the at least one client device is in a moving transportationvehicle; generate at least one user interface configured to receiveincident data comprising at least one of the following: a location of anincident, a time of occurrence of an incident, a textual description ofan incident, a party involved in an incident, or any combinationthereof; capture and store at least one image of an incident with thecamera unit; and automatically capture and store noise data with themicrophone while the at least one client device is in the movingtransportation vehicle; and at least one server computer incommunication with the at least one client device and programmed orconfigured to: receive the location data, the incident data, the atleast one image, and the noise data from the at least one client device;and generate at least one report based at least partially on theincident data and at least one of the following: the location data, theat least one image, the noise data, or any combination thereof.

According to another preferred and non-limiting embodiment or aspect ofthe present invention, provided is a computer-implemented method forincident reporting and notification, comprising: providing a clientdevice in each vehicle of a plurality of vehicles transporting amaterial; generating, by at least one client device located in a vehicleof the plurality of vehicles, waypoint data representing a location ofthe vehicle; transmitting the waypoint data from the at least one clientdevice to at least one server computer at predetermined intervals;generating, by the at least one server computer, a replay user interfacebased on the waypoint data received from the at least one client deviceover a period of time, the replay user interface comprising a route ofthe vehicle displayed on a map; generating, on the at least one clientdevice, at least one incident reporting interface configured to receiveincident data comprising at least one of the following: a location of anincident, a time of occurrence of an incident, a textual description ofan incident, a party involved in an incident, or any combinationthereof; capturing at least one image of an incident with a camera unitof the at least one client device; associating the at least one imagewith the incident data; and transmitting the incident data and the atleast one image from the at least one client device to the at least oneserver computer.

According to a further preferred and non-limiting embodiment or aspectof the present invention, provided is a computer program product forreporting incidents experienced by a vehicle transporting a material,the computer program product comprising at least one non-transitorymedium including program instructions that, when executed by a mobiledevice, cause the mobile device to: generate waypoint data representinga location of the vehicle at predetermined time intervals; transmit thewaypoint data to at least one server computer; generate at least oneincident reporting interface configured to receive incident datacomprising at least one of the following: a location of an incident, atime of occurrence of an incident, a textual description of an incident,a party involved in an incident, or any combination thereof; capture atleast one image of an incident with a camera unit of the client device;associate the at least one image with the incident data; transmit theincident data and the at least one image from the at least one clientdevice to the at least one server computer; determine a volume level ofan audible output of the client device; determine if the volume level isbelow a predefined threshold; and in response to determining that thevolume level is below the predefined threshold, generating at least onealert.

According to a further preferred and non-limiting embodiment or aspectof the present invention, provided is an incident reporting andnotification system, comprising: (a) at least one client deviceprogrammed or configured to: receive analyzed data, the analyzed datacomprising at least one of the following: report data, graph data, mapdata, alert data, stored data, or any combination thereof; and transmitincident data, the incident data comprising at least one of thefollowing: location of an incident, time of an incident, description ofan incident, parties involved in an incident, comments from a userfilling out an incident form, comments from parties involved in anincident, accident data, spill data, near miss data, or any combinationthereof; and (b) at least one server computer in communication with theat least one client device, the at least one server computer programmedor configured to receive incident data from the at least one clientdevice; store the incident data; and generate at least one report basedat least partially on the incident data.

According to a further preferred and non-limiting embodiment or aspectof the present invention, provided is a computer-implemented method forincident reporting and notification, comprising the steps of: (a)obtaining incident data for at least one incident, the incident datacomprising at least one of the following: location of an incident, timeof an incident, description of an incident, parties involved in anincident, comments from a user filling out an incident form, commentsfrom parties involved in an incident, accident data, spill data, nearmiss data, or any combination thereof; (b) transmitting, to at least oneserver computer, at least a portion of the incident data; and (c)receiving, on a mobile device, analyzed data, the analyzed datacomprising at least one of the following: report data, graph data, mapdata, alert data, stored data, or any combination thereof.

According to a further preferred and non-limiting embodiment or aspectof the present invention, provided is a computer-implemented method forincident reporting and notification, comprising: (a) receiving incidentdata for at least one incident, the incident data comprising at leastone of the following: location of an incident, time of an incident,description of an incident, parties involved in an incident, commentsfrom a user filling out an incident form, comments from parties involvedin an incident, accident data, spill data, near miss data, or anycombination thereof; and (b) transmitting, to at least one clientdevice, analyzed data, the analyzed data comprising at least one of thefollowing: report data, graph data, map data, alert data, stored data,or any combination thereof.

These and other features and characteristics of the present invention,as well as the methods of operation and functions of the relatedelements of structures and the combination of parts and economies ofmanufacture, will become more apparent upon consideration of thefollowing description and the appended claims with reference to theaccompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this specification,wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts in thevarious figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that thedrawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only andare not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention. As usedin the specification and the claims, the singular form of “a”, “an”, and“the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictatesotherwise.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of one embodiment or aspect of an incidentreporting and notification system according to the principles of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is another schematic view of one embodiment or aspect of anincident reporting and notification system according to the principlesof the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a further schematic view of one embodiment or aspect of anincident reporting and notification system according to the principlesof the present invention;

FIG. 4 is another schematic view of one embodiment or aspect of anincident reporting and notification system according to the principlesof the present invention;

FIG. 5 depicts a diagram of a computer environment according to theprior art;

FIG. 6 depicts a safety report user interface according to theprinciples of the present invention;

FIG. 7 depicts an accident report user interface according to theprinciples of the present invention;

FIG. 8 depicts a near-miss report user interface according to theprinciples of the present invention;

FIG. 9 depicts an incident report user interface according to theprinciples of the present invention;

FIG. 10 depicts an invoice user interface according to the principles ofthe present invention;

FIG. 11 depicts a replay user interface according to the principles ofthe present invention; and

FIG. 12 depicts a legend for the replay user interface shown in FIG. 11according to the principles of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

For purposes of the description hereinafter, the terms “end”, “upper”,“lower”, “right”, “left”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, “top”, “bottom”,“lateral”, “longitudinal”, and derivatives thereof shall relate to theinvention as it is oriented in the drawing figures. However, it is to beunderstood that the invention may assume various alternative variationsand step sequences, except where expressly specified to the contrary. Itis also to be understood that the specific devices and processesillustrated in the attached drawings, and described in the followingspecification, are simply exemplary embodiment or aspects of theinvention. Hence, specific dimensions and other physical characteristicsrelated to the embodiments or aspects disclosed herein are not to beconsidered as limiting.

As used herein, the terms “communication” and “communicate” refer to thereceipt or transfer of one or more signals, messages, commands, or othertype of data. For one unit or device to be in communication with anotherunit or device means that the one unit or device is able to receive datafrom and/or transmit data to the other unit or device. A communicationmay use a direct or indirect connection, and may be wired and/orwireless in nature. Additionally, two units or devices may be incommunication with each other even though the data transmitted may bemodified, processed, routed, etc., between the first and second unit ordevice. For example, a first unit may be in communication with a secondunit even though the first unit passively receives data, and does notactively transmit data to the second unit. As another example, a firstunit may be in communication with a second unit if an intermediary unitprocesses data from one unit and transmits processed data to the secondunit. It will be appreciated that numerous other arrangements arepossible.

In one preferred and non-limiting embodiment of the present invention,an incident reporting and notification system comprises at least oneclient device and at least one server computer in communication with theat least one client device. The client device is programmed orconfigured to receive analyzed data and transmit incident data. Theserver computer is programmed or configured to receive incident datafrom the at least one client device, store the incident data, andgenerate at least one report based at least partially on the incidentdata.

Referring to FIG. 1, an incident reporting and notification system 1000is shown according to a preferred and non-limiting embodiment or aspect.A server computer 102 is in communication with a management computer 103and client devices 104, 105 through a network environment 115, such asthe internet and/or a private network. The server computer 102 is alsoin communication with an incident management database 117, includingincident data stored in one or more data structures on a data storagedevice. The management computer 103 displays a management interface 107based at least partially on data received from the server computer 102and/or the incident management database 117. The management interface107 may be used to view and generate reports based on the incident data,as an example.

The term “management computer”, as used herein, refers to any computingdevice capable of accessing the server computer and/or the incidentmanagement database. The management computer may include a client deviceused by an individual having administrative access or other credentials,as an example. In another example, the management computer may be alaptop and/or personal computer used for accessing the incidentreporting and notification system 1000. The management computer may bein communication with the server computer through any number ofprotocols or methods, such as but not limited to an HTTP connectionthrough a web browser or other software application installed on themanagement computer.

An “incident management database,” as used herein, may refer to one ormore data structures that include stored data, such as but not limitedto incident data, report data, employee data, safety data sheets,National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)guidelines, emergency response guidelines, company information, and/orcompany guidelines. The data structures may be distributed and/orcentralized. For example, the incident management database 117 mayinclude multiple data structures at one or many locations, or mayinclude a single data structure. Further, the incident managementdatabase 117 may be any type of data structure, such as but not limitedto delimiter-separated data, vectors, arrays, trees, tables, and/or thelike.

As used herein, the terms “client device” and “client devices” refer toone or more hardware and/or software components that allow for userinteraction and data transmission and/or receipt. In one preferred andnon-limiting embodiment or aspect, the client devices are smartphonesthat have processing and display capabilities, and/or softwareapplications that can run on such devices. However, it will beappreciated that a client device may be any mobile or portable computingdevice or components thereof. In a preferred and non-limiting embodimentor aspect, the client device includes a mobile client application thatmay include compiled program instructions programmed or configured toperform various tasks and display various interfaces when executed. Oneor more aspects of the mobile client application may also be executed bya remote computing device, such as the server computer, which thenprovides the client device with display data (such as in the form of agraphical user interface (GUI)) and receives input data from the clientdevice.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, the client device 105 may be used toscan and/or otherwise receive incident data 108 from any number of dataresources. Data resources may include, for example, visual indicia,radio frequency identification (RFID) transponders, memory devices,codes, wireless signals, data inputs, and/or the like. In one example,employee information, location coordinates, and/or sound levelmeasurements may be obtained from data resources such as a matrixbarcode or standard barcode, an RFID transponder, and/or a wirelesssignal. Comments from a user filling out an incident form, comments fromparties involved in an incident, and/or employee information may beobtained from data resources including any type of printed or electronicdata that is manually input into a client device 105, automaticallyinput into a client device, or is otherwise read, scanned, and/orreceived by the client device 105.

In a further example, location coordinates and sound level measurementsmay be obtained from data resources including a computing device thattransmits data to the client device 105 via near-field communication(NFC) methods and/or Bluetooth® protocols, or sensors that are local toor incorporated into the client device. In yet another example, the dataresource may be printed data, which may include comments from a userfilling out an incident form and comments from parties involved in anincident, which may be received by the client device 105 through anynumber of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) processes. It will beappreciated that other variations are possible. The client device 105may also store all the received incident data 108 and/or otherinformation locally and synchronize with the server computer 102 when aconnection is available or at predefined intervals.

The term “incident data”, as used herein, refers to data representinginformation related to an incident. Incidents may involve a variety ofsituations including accidents (on the road or at a site), spills,near-misses, and/or the like. The incident data may include the locationof an incident, time of an incident, description of an incident, partiesinvolved in an incident, comments from a user filling out an incidentform, comments from parties involved in an incident, and/or the like.Additionally, in one preferred and non-limiting embodiment or aspect,the incident data may also include information from a Global PositioningSystem (GPS) receiver and/or information from a noise device thatmeasures decibels. In a non-limiting embodiment or aspect, the noisedevice is used to measure noise data such as sound levels (e.g.,A-weighted decibels). The noise device may include a microphone on aclient device or an external device or sensor configured to measure andrecord sound levels. The incident data may also include sensor data suchas, for example, data received from one or more accelerometers,gyroscopes, and/or other like sensors incorporated into the clientdevice or in communication with the client device. Accelerometers may,for example, be used to detect hard braking events based on a detectedforce exceeding a predefined threshold or limit. However, it will beappreciated that various arrangements are possible.

Referring now to FIG. 2, an incident reporting and notification system1000 is shown according to another preferred and non-limiting embodimentor aspect. An incident management host 109 includes a server computer102 and an incident management database 117. It will be appreciatedthat, as already explained, the incident management database 117 may belocal to the server computer 102, client devices 104, 105, 106, and/orremotely hosted. The server computer 102 and host 109 are incommunication with a management computer 103 and client devices 104,105, 106 through a network environment 115, such as the internet, awide-area network (WAN), or other form of communication. The clientdevices 104, 105, 106 are programmed or configured to receive incidentdata 108, noise data from a noise device 121 that measures decibels,employee data from an employee identification card 122, and/or locationdata from a Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite 134.

With continued reference to FIG. 2, in a preferred and non-limitingembodiment or aspect, an employee has an identification (ID) card 122 ontheir person. The ID card 122 contains a data resource and/or visualindicia 123, such as but not limited to standard barcodes, matrixbarcodes (e.g., a two-dimensional barcode, QR code, etc.), printedalphanumeric information, and/or other data resources. The data resourcemay include employee data such as, for example, employee personalinformation, employee safety records, employee testing records, employeetraining records, and/or employee work schedules. These data resourcesmay be scanned, detected, or otherwise read by the client devices 104,105, 106. In embodiments or aspects, a camera unit of the client devices104, 105, 106 may be used to optically scan the visual data resources.The employee data may be used as at least a portion of the incident datathat is collected by and transmitted from the client devices 104, 105,106.

Referring now to FIG. 3, an incident reporting and notification system1000 is shown according to a further preferred and non-limitingembodiment or aspect. The server computer 102 may include a back-endcomponent 143 and a front-end component 141, which respectively providedata management and data input services to the management computer 103(not shown) and a client device 130. The host 109, including the servercomputer 102 and incident management database 117, provides services,such as the transfer, receipt, and processing of data, to the clientdevice 130 and the management computer 103, as well as any other devicescapable of receiving and/or transmitting data. The client device 130 mayinclude various components and/or modules, such as but not limited to aninput device 141, a display device 139, a Global Positioning System(GPS) receiver 135, a processor 131, a memory device 133, a camera oroptical sensing device 137, and/or a microphone (not shown). A satellite134 is in communication with the client device 130 to provide the clientdevice 130 with geographic coordinates.

With continued reference to FIG. 3, in a preferred and non-limitingembodiment or aspect, the back-end component 143 provides the clientdevice 130 with analyzed data. The analyzed data may include reportdata, graph data, map data, alert data, and/or stored data, as examples.The back-end component 143 receives incident data and stored data andgenerates the analyzed data. The analyzed data may be in the form ofreports, graphs, emails, maps, short message service (SMS) textmessages, alerts, notifications, and/or the like. The report data mayinclude incident reports, fault determinations, comment reports, and/orthe like. Graph data may include visual representations of incident dataand/or stored data. Alert data may include an emergency alert, alocation to avoid alert, an employee testing alert, an employee trainingalert, and/or the like.

Still referring to FIG. 3, in a preferred and non-limiting embodiment oraspect, a fault determination is generated by the back-end component143. The fault determination is calculated by processing, based at leastpartially on at least one algorithm, at least a portion of the incidentdata and a portion of the stored data. It will be appreciated that otherparameters may be used, such as for example sound level data, time ofday, vehicle speed data, speed limit data, and/or the like. An algorithmassigns values to the incident data provided. The values may be weightedbased on the type of information that the value is associated with(e.g., location of incident, person(s) involved in an incident, etc.).An algorithm may compare values with stored data entries (e.g., employeehistory, location history, incident history, etc.) and generate a faultdetermination that can be sent to the client device 130 as a part of areport. For example, a fault determination may be based on adetermination that a vehicle was moving too fast given a speed limit ina particular location. As another example, a fault determination may bebased at least partially on detection of a hard braking event in thevehicle.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an incident reporting and notification systemis shown according to a preferred and non-limiting embodiment. A servercomputer 102 is in communication with a client device 105, a managementcomputer 103, and a data storage device 144. The client device 105receives incident data 108, employee data 146, GPS data 148, and noisedata 150. This data 108, 146, 148, 150 may be stored locally on thedevice 105 and transmitted to the server computer 102 at predeterminedintervals. It will be appreciated that this data 108, 146, 148, 150 mayalso be transmitted to the server 102 as it is received. The data 108,146, 148, 150 may then be stored on a data storage device 144 andaccessed, through the server 102, with the management computer 103.

In a preferred and non-limiting embodiment or aspect, various graphicaluser interfaces (GUIs) are generated and provided to users. Users may bepassive users, active users, administrative users, super administrativeusers (e.g., “superadmins”), and/or a combination of passive, active,and/or administrative users. In a non-limiting embodiment or aspect,active users may be provided with data entry interfaces, passive usersmay be provided with report generation interfaces, and administratorsmay be provided with report generation interfaces and further featuresfor viewing and/or interacting with the incident management data.Superadmins may have extended privileges for modifying the interfaces,data types, parameters, and/or the like.

In a preferred and non-limiting embodiment or aspect, the client devicemay be programmed or configured to display a menu interface. The menuinterface may include selectable options or buttons, such as but notlimited to a form interface option, a map interface option, a reportinterface option, a user management interface option, a miscellaneousinformation interface option, and/or the like.

In a preferred and non-limiting embodiment or aspect, the client deviceis programmed or configured to display one or more form interfaces. Aform interface may be configured to receive incident data and transmitthat data to the server computer. The form interface may include, forexample, selectable options that can be filled in manually or, in someinstances, automatically. The selectable options may include, but arenot limited to, fields, buttons, checkboxes, and/or menus to specify alocation of an incident, time of an incident, description of anincident, parties involved in an incident, comments from a user fillingout the incident form, comments from parties involved in an incident,and/or incident sound levels, as examples.

In a preferred and non-limiting embodiment or aspect, the client device130 is programmed or configured to display a map interface. The mapinterface may be configured to receive map data from the server computer102 or a third-party server. The map interface may include a map with avisual indication showing a current location of the client device.Additionally, the map interface may include a number of icons or othervisual indications to identify locations of incidents, severity ofincidents, descriptions of incidents, which areas (including sites) toavoid, and/or suggested route options. It will be appreciated that themap interface may be generated from various data sources and third-partyservices, such as but not limited to Google Maps, MapQuest, governmentdatabases, and/or the like. The map interface may include atwo-dimensional rendering, a satellite image, and/or other graphicsdepicting an area.

In a preferred and non-limiting embodiment or aspect, the client device130 is programmed or configured to display a reports interface. Thereports interface may be configured to receive at least one report fromthe server computer 102. Reports may be based at least partially onincident data, stored data, graph data, map data, and/or the like.Graphs, charts, tables, and/or other visualizations may be generated toenable viewing and/or interaction with the data.

In a preferred and non-limiting embodiment or aspect, the client device130 is programmed or configured to display an alert interface andreceive alert data from the server computer 102. The alert data mayinclude, but is not limited to, an emergency alert, a location to avoidalert, an employee testing alert, an employee training alert, and/or thelike. In a preferred and non-limiting embodiment or aspect, the alertsare displayed in a manner that distinguishes the alert from the rest ofthe interface. For example, icons and audible sounds may be used foralerts, indications, markers, and/or the like so that drivers do notneed to take their eyes off of the road and so that illiterate driversare able to understand important information. Alerts may include, forexample, push messages on a client device, emails, text messages,ringtones, and/or the like.

In a preferred and non-limiting embodiment or aspect, the client device130 may be programmed or configured to display an information retrievalinterface. The information retrieval interface may be configured tofacilitate users to search stored data and may further facilitate usersto review previous incidents or view guidelines and codes for managing acurrent incident.

In a preferred and non-limiting embodiment or aspect, the system isprogrammed or configured to operate when network connectivity isunavailable or variable. For example, the data communicated between theserver 102 and client device 130 may be minimized and restricted to onlypredetermined types of information that are deemed necessary. Further,if a network connection is unavailable, the client device 130 may beprogrammed or configured to store the outgoing data locally and toperiodically attempt to retransmit it to the server. When a connectionbecomes available, the client device 130 may transmit the stored dataand receive incoming data from the server. The incoming data from theserver 102 may be stored locally on the client device 130 in case thenetwork connection is subsequently lost. Since location data isgenerally available from a GPS satellite, the loss of a networkconnection should not affect the determination of a location. However,it will be appreciated that location may be determined in various otherways.

In a preferred and non-limiting embodiment or aspect, the client device130 may include a microphone and a speaker. The client device 130 mayalso be in communication with a stereo system or speaker in a vehicle.It will be appreciated that any of the text appearing on a GUI of theclient device, in addition to other information, may be audiblyannunciated through the speaker of the client device 130 or the uservehicle. Further, any user selection, option, or command may be inputthrough spoken words or phrases received by a microphone of the clientdevice and processed by the client device 130 and/or the server 102. Insome non-limiting embodiments or aspects, the client device 130 may beprogrammed, configured, and/or adapted to limit or prevent userinteraction at various stages or with certain GUIs to eliminate usererror.

In a preferred and non-limiting embodiment or aspect, a volume level onthe client device 130 may be monitored by an application running on theclient device 130 or on the server 102. If the user lowers the volume ofthe client device 102, an alert may be generated and transmitted to theserver 102. Additionally, the client device 130 may be programmed orconfigured to prevent modification of the volume level. Thisfunctionality can ensure that a user is provided with all thenotifications and alerts necessary.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a safety report user interface 600 is shownaccording to a preferred and non-limiting embodiment or aspect. A calloption 602 may be displayed that, upon selection, automaticallyinitiates a telephone call to a specified destination or brings a userto a telephone interface for making the call. It will be appreciatedthat the call option 602 may be used to initiate cellular calls,voice-over-IP calls, text messages, and other forms of communication. Anaccident report option 604, an incident report option 606, and a nearmiss report option 608 are also displayed on the safety report userinterface 600. The options 602, 604, 606, 608 may include, for example,one or more push buttons, radio buttons, items in a drop-down menu,and/or other like selectable options.

With continued reference to FIG. 6, pressing the accident report option602 may cause the client device to display an accident report userinterface 700, such as the preferred and non-limiting embodiment shownin FIG. 7. The accident report user interface 700 may include variousselectable options and/or input fields to facilitate a user to inputaccident data. A location may be manually entered or a user may select ause location option 708 to use the current location of the client deviceas determined by GPS coordinates or other methods. An input field 702may be used to input the name or identifier of the person preparing thereport. Such a name may also be selected from a list, menu, or the like.One or more add picture options 704 may also be displayed, allowingusers to choose image files to associate and/or upload with an accidentreport. The add picture option 704 may also present a camera applicationto capture images and/or video. Other input fields 706 or otherselectable options may be used to input the name of a supervisor, safetycoordinator, manager, and/or other individual that may be associatedwith an accident report.

Referring now to FIG. 8, a near miss report user interface 800 is shownaccording to a preferred and non-limiting embodiment or aspect. The nearmiss report user interface 800 is shown in response to a user selectingthe near miss report option 608 shown on the safety report userinterface 600 of FIG. 6. The near miss report user interface 800 mayfacilitate a user to indicate the severity of a “near miss” incident.For example, selectable options 804 for a level of severity frommultiple options may be chosen to indicate that if the incident hadactually occurred, the incident would have been of high severity (e.g.,potentially fatal or resulting in permanent disability), medium severity(e.g., temporary disability, some pecuniary loss, etc.), or low severity(e.g., minor or no injury, no pecuniary loss, etc.). The near missreport user interface 800 may also inquire into potential physicalinjuries, equipment or property damage, and/or environmental impact. Oneor more questions or inquiries may be presented in the near miss reportuser interface 800. A location may be manually entered or a user mayselect the use location option 802 to use the current location of theclient device as determined by GPS coordinates or other methods.

Referring now to FIG. 9, an incident report user interface 850 is shownaccording to a preferred and non-limiting embodiment or aspect. Theincident report user interface 850 includes a number of selectableoptions and input fields for entering incident data concerning anincident. For example, a first option 854 inquires if the release offluid or other materials happened within a specified distance (e.g., 100feet) of a public road. Another option 856 inquires if the release offluid or other materials happened within a specified distance (e.g., 100feet) of a body of water (e.g., a perennial stream). Yet another option858 may ask the user to specify the truck route, the truck origin,and/or the truck destination with an input field or other selectableoptions. Again, a location may be manually entered or a user may selectthe use location option 852 to use the current location of the clientdevice as determined by GPS coordinates or other methods.

In a preferred and non-limiting embodiment or aspect, an invoice userinterface may be used to generate, transmit, approve, and/or manageinvoices. The generation of invoice reports is described by U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/095,043, filed Dec. 3, 2013, to Richie et al.,the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety. Invoices may be automatically generated based on data that iscollected during a truck route, retrieved from a third-party source,and/or inputted. For example, the scanning of barcodes, RFID tags,Bluetooth® transmitters, and/or other like devices may be used togenerate an invoice. In such examples, a barcode, RFID, or other datacarrier may be scanned to indicate a pick-up, a drop-off, or otherevents associated with a cost or other expenditure. An invoice databasemay then be populated with the costs or expenses incurred by aparticular truck, route, driver, company, and/or the like.

Referring now to FIG. 10, an invoice user interface 1001 is shownaccording to a preferred and non-limiting embodiment or aspect. Theinvoice user interface 1001 includes an invoice document 1010. Theinvoice document 1010 may be in any number of forms, such as for exampleHTML, PDF, JPEG, TIFF, plaintext, Microsoft Word, Open Office, and/orthe like. In the example shown in FIG. 10, the invoice document 1010 isa PDF embedded in a webpage for viewing. The invoice document 1010includes various parameters for an invoice, including a well, truckcompany, date created, due date, total due, and the like. The invoicemay also include line items for a haul such as quantity, item,description, routes, rate, cost, and/or the like. The invoice userinterface 1001 includes a mark as sent option 1002, a mark as draftoption 1004, an approve option 1006, and a decline option 1008. The markas sent option 1002, when selected, indicates in a database that theinvoice document 1010 has been sent to the customer. The mark as draftoption 1004, when selected, saves the invoice document 1010 as a draftbut does not cause the invoice document 1010 to be sent. Further, theinvoice document 1010 may be sent to the customer automatically atregular intervals (e.g., weekly or monthly), at the end of a shift, orwhen all necessary data for a time period has been obtained. When acustomer logs in to the system and views the invoice user interface1001, they can approve of the invoice with the approve option 1006 ordecline the invoice with the decline option 1008. Further, the customermay choose to comment on the invoice document 1010 instead of approvingit or declining it, thus creating a dialogue between the payor andpayee. In non-limiting embodiments or aspects, an automatic reminder maybe sent to the customer if the invoice has not been approved and/or paidwithin a specified amount of time (e.g., 5 days).

In preferred and non-limiting embodiments or aspects, trucks and/ordrivers may be dispatched by a manager or other individual. For example,a user may select a truck, a pick-up site, a drop-off site, and a starttime for one or more drivers. At the start time for each dispatch, or atsome predetermined time prior to the start time, a message may then besent to the driver (e.g., via a push notification, text message, email,pop-up dialogue box, and/or the like). In this way, the material beingpicked up (e.g., type of fluid) and the pick-up and drop-off sites arealready known and the driver does not have to input this information.

In preferred and non-limiting embodiments or aspects, and as furtherdescribed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/095,043 to Richie etal., route information is collected from vehicles as they transportmaterial. For example, the specific turns, streets, and paths taken bythe vehicles may be saved and associated with a day of the week and/ortime of day. In this way, one or more algorithms may be used todetermine the most common route for all times, the most common route fora particular time, and/or the like. In this way, drivers may be free totake any appropriate route to develop a database of route data that canbe used to determine the most optimal route for time efficiency, costefficiency, avoidance of certain areas, etc. Moreover, the route datamay include traffic data that indicates when a particular route orportion thereof may experience high traffic and delayed transportation.Once a route database is developed, the system can then detect if avehicle is off course from one of multiple possible routes and alert thedriver that he or she is off course. Analytics may also be presented inreal-time, allowing administrators, managers, and/or other individualsto view a progress of one or more vehicles closing in on theirdestinations. For example, a progress bar may represent the progress ofone or more vehicles.

In a preferred and non-limiting embodiment or aspect, accidents,incidents, and/or near misses may be verified and investigated with aroute replay option. The route replay option may allow for a user tovisualize the route of one or more vehicles over a time period. Forexample, a replay option may be provided on an electronic report, a webinterface, and/or a mobile interface. As a vehicle moves, a visual trackmay be generated on a map over the route the vehicle takes. Any event orother log generated by the vehicle may be represented on the map withpins or other indicators. For example, if the vehicle enters or exits ageofence, a pin may be generated for the location and the time that theevent occurred. The speed of a vehicle may be determined from the timeit takes for the vehicle to traverse a distance. By frequently obtainingthe vehicle location information, the accuracy of the vehicle speed canbe improved over methods in which the vehicle location is obtained atregular, spaced intervals. In this manner, an accident, incident, and/ornear miss may be investigated by replaying the vehicle route anddetermining the speed of the vehicle in a given area or at a specifictime. The accident, incident, and/or near miss may also be visualized onthe map with a pin or some other indicator.

Referring now to FIG. 11, a replay user interface 1100 is shownaccording to a preferred and non-limiting embodiment. The replay userinterface 1100 includes a map 1101 that depicts a route for one or morevehicles. A replay menu 1102 is displayed on the replay user interface1100 and includes various selectable options to control a visual replayof route 1114 taken by one or more vehicles. As shown in FIG. 11, theroute 1114 is color coded to indicate one or more route parameters. Inthe illustrated example, the route 1114 is color coded based on thefrequency of waypoints at which the location of the vehicle is recorded.For example, a dark blue color may indicate a portion of the route 1114in which the vehicle was moving and therefore the waypoints are spreadout. At the sites, or when the vehicle is moving slow due to traffic orother reasons, the color becomes increasingly red on a spectrum of blueto red (e.g., a heat map). The replay menu 1102 may include a timeline1112 and a replay speed 1110, as well as other selectable options forcontrolling the replay of one or more vehicle routes. In the illustratedexample, the replay is 20× actual speed. The time of day and/or datecorresponding to the vehicle position on the timeline 1112 may also bedisplayed on the replay menu 1102.

With continued reference to FIG. 11, icons 1116, 1118 are shown on themap to represent vehicles, employees, withdrawal sites, wells/pads,restricted areas or sites, speed traps, check points, treatment centers,disposal wells, and/or the like. The icons 1116, 1118 may be colorcoded. For example, a truck icon 1118 may be yellow to indicate that thetruck is carrying production water, light blue to indicate fresh water,dark blue to indicate treated water, brown to indicate flowback water,gray to indicate an empty truck, and/or the like. It will be appreciatedthat various other color schemes and/or indicators may be used. Theicons may also display a pop-up window (not shown) in response toclicking the icon or moving a cursor over the icon. The pop-up windowmay provide further information concerning the truck, site, orrestriction.

With continued reference to FIG. 11, selectable options may be presentedto generate a replay user interface 1100 for a particular truck based onone or more parameters. For example, if an accident occurs and is loggedat a particular location, a user may choose selectable options togenerate a replay user interface for the trucks that passed within acertain range of the accident. It will be appreciated that various otherparameters may be used to generate a replay user interface 1100. FIG. 12shows a legend for the interface 1100 shown in FIG. 11 according to apreferred and non-limiting embodiment or aspect.

The present invention may be implemented on a variety of computingdevices and systems, including the client devices and/or servercomputers, wherein these computing devices include the appropriateprocessing mechanisms and computer-readable media for storing andexecuting computer-readable instructions, such as programminginstructions, code, and the like. As shown in FIG. 5, personal computers900, 944, in a computing system environment 902 are provided. Thiscomputing system environment 902 may include, but is not limited to, atleast one computer 900 having certain components for appropriateoperation, execution of code, and creation and communication of data.For example, the computer 900 includes a processing unit 904 (typicallyreferred to as a central processing unit or CPU) that serves to executecomputer-based instructions received in the appropriate data form andformat. Further, this processing unit 904 may be in the form of multipleprocessors executing code in series, in parallel, or in any other mannerfor appropriate implementation of the computer-based instructions.

In order to facilitate appropriate data communication and processinginformation between the various components of the computer 900, a systembus 906 is utilized. The system bus 906 may be any of several types ofbus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, aperipheral bus, or a local bus using any of a variety of busarchitectures. In particular, the system bus 906 facilitates data andinformation communication between the various components (whetherinternal or external to the computer 900) through a variety ofinterfaces, as discussed hereinafter.

The computer 900 may include a variety of discrete computer-readablemedia components. For example, this computer-readable media may includeany media that can be accessed by the computer 900, such as volatilemedia, non-volatile media, removable media, non-removable media, etc. Asa further example, this computer-readable media may include computerstorage media, such as media implemented in any method or technology forstorage of information, such as computer-readable instructions, datastructures, program modules, or other data, random access memory (RAM),read only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read onlymemory (EEPROM), flash memory, or other memory technology, CD-ROM,digital versatile disks (DVDs), or other optical disk storage, magneticcassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage, or other magneticstorage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store thedesired information and which can be accessed by the computer 900.Further, this computer-readable media may include communications media,such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, programmodules, or other data in other transport mechanisms and include anyinformation delivery media, wired media (such as a wired network and adirect-wired connection), and wireless media. Computer-readable mediamay include all machine-readable media with the sole exception oftransitory, propagating signals. Of course, combinations of any of theabove should also be included within the scope of computer-readablemedia.

The computer 900 further includes a system memory 908 with computerstorage media in the form of volatile and non-volatile memory, such asROM and RAM. A basic input/output system (BIOS) with appropriatecomputer-based routines assists in transferring information betweencomponents within the computer 900 and is normally stored in ROM. TheRAM portion of the system memory typically contains data and programmodules that are immediately accessible to or presently being operatedon by processing unit 904, e.g., an operating system, applicationprogramming interfaces, application programs, program modules, programdata, and other instruction-based computer-readable codes.

With continued reference to FIG. 5, the computer 900 may also includeother removable or non-removable, volatile or non-volatile computerstorage media products. For example, the computer 900 may include anon-removable memory interface 910 that communicates with and controls ahard disk drive 912, i.e., a non-removable, non-volatile magneticmedium; and a removable, non-volatile memory interface 914 thatcommunicates with and controls a magnetic disk drive unit 916 (whichreads from and writes to a removable, non-volatile magnetic disk 918),an optical disk drive unit 920 (which reads from and writes to aremovable, non-volatile optical disk 922, such as a CD ROM), a UniversalSerial Bus (USB) port 921 for use in connection with a removable memorycard, etc. However, it is envisioned that other removable ornon-removable, volatile or non-volatile computer storage media can beused in the exemplary computing system environment 900, including, butnot limited to, magnetic tape cassettes, DVDs, digital video tape, solidstate RAM, solid state ROM, etc. These various removable ornon-removable, volatile or non-volatile magnetic media are incommunication with the processing unit 904 and other components of thecomputer 900 via the system bus 906. The drives and their associatedcomputer storage media discussed above and illustrated in FIG. 5 providestorage of operating systems, computer-readable instructions,application programs, data structures, program modules, program data,and other instruction-based computer-readable code for the computer 900(whether duplicative or not of this information and data in the systemmemory 908).

A user may enter commands, information, and data into the computer 900through certain attachable or operable input devices, such as a keyboard924, a mouse 926, etc., via a user input interface. Of course, a varietyof such input devices may be utilized, e.g., a microphone, a trackball,a joystick, a touchpad, a touch-screen, a scanner, etc., including anyarrangement that facilitates the input of data, and information to thecomputer 900 from an outside source. As discussed, these and other inputdevices are often connected to the processing unit 904 through the userinput interface 928 coupled to the system bus 906, but may be connectedby other interface and bus structures, such as a parallel port, gameport, or a universal serial bus (USB). Still further, data andinformation can be presented or provided to a user in an intelligibleform or format through certain output devices, such as a monitor 930 (tovisually display this information and data in electronic form), aprinter 932 (to physically display this information and data in printform), a speaker 934 (to audibly present this information and data inaudible form), etc. All of these devices are in communication with thecomputer 900 through an output interface 936 coupled to the system bus906. It is envisioned that any such peripheral output devices be used toprovide information and data to the user.

The computer 900 may operate in a network environment 938 through theuse of a communications device 940, which is integral to the computer orremote therefrom. This communications device 940 is operable by and incommunication to the other components of the computer 900 through acommunications interface 942. Using such an arrangement, the computer900 may connect with or otherwise communicate with one or more remotecomputers, such as a remote computer 944, which may be a personalcomputer, a server, a router, a network personal computer, a peerdevice, or other common network nodes, and typically includes many orall of the components described above in connection with the computer900. Using appropriate communication devices 940, e.g., a modem, anetwork interface or adapter, etc., the computer 900 may operate withinand communication through a local area network (LAN) and a wide areanetwork (WAN), but may also include other networks such as a virtualprivate network (VPN), an office network, an enterprise network, anintranet, the Internet, etc. It will be appreciated that the networkconnections shown are exemplary and other means of establishing acommunications link between the computers 900, 944 may be used.

As used herein, the computer 900 includes or is operable to executeappropriate custom-designed or conventional software to perform andimplement the processing steps of the method and system of the presentinvention, thereby, forming a specialized and particular computingsystem. Accordingly, the presently-invented method and system mayinclude one or more computers 900 or similar computing devices having acomputer-readable storage medium capable of storing computer-readableprogram code or instructions that cause the processing unit 902 toexecute, configure, or otherwise implement the methods, processes, andtransformational data manipulations discussed hereinafter in connectionwith the present invention. Still further, the computer 900 may be inthe form of a personal computer, a personal digital assistant, aportable computer, a laptop, a palmtop, a mobile device, a mobiletelephone, a server, or any other type of computing device having thenecessary processing hardware to appropriately process data toeffectively implement the presently-invented computer-implemented methodand system.

Although the invention has been described in detail for the purpose ofillustration based on what is currently considered to be the mostpractical and preferred embodiments or aspects, it is to be understoodthat such detail is solely for that purpose and that the invention isnot limited to the disclosed embodiments or aspects, but, on thecontrary, is intended to cover modifications and equivalent arrangementsthat are within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Forexample, it is to be understood that the present invention contemplatesthat, to the extent possible, one or more features of any embodiment oraspect can be combined with one or more features of any other embodimentor aspect.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An incident reporting system, comprising:(a) at least one client device comprising at least one processor, acamera unit, and a microphone, the at least one client device programmedor configured to: (i) generate location data for the at least one clientdevice while the at least one client device is in a movingtransportation vehicle, the location data comprising waypoint datarepresenting a location of the moving transportation vehicle; (ii)generate at least one user interface configured to receive incident datafrom at least one of the client device and a user of the client device,the incident data comprising at least one of the following: a locationof an incident, a time of occurrence of an incident, a textualdescription of an incident, a party involved in an incident, or anycombination thereof; and (iii) capture and store at least one image ofan incident with the camera unit; (b) at least one server computer incommunication with the at least one client device and programmed orconfigured to: (i) receive the location data, the incident data, and theat least one image from the at least one client device; (ii) generate atleast one report based at least partially on the incident data and atleast one of the following: the location data, the at least one image,or any combination thereof; and (iii) generate a replay user interfacebased on the waypoint data received from the at least one client deviceover a period of time, the replay user interface comprising a route ofthe moving transportation vehicle displayed on a map.
 2. The incidentreporting system of claim 1, wherein the at least one client device isfurther programmed or configured to automatically capture and storenoise data with the microphone while the at least one client device isin the moving transportation vehicle, and wherein the noise datacomprises decibel levels.
 3. The incident reporting system of claim 1,wherein the noise data is recorded as A-weighted decibels (dBA).
 4. Theincident reporting system of claim 1, further comprising at least oneemployee data resource located on an employee identification card, theemployee data resource comprising employee data including at least oneof the following: employee personal information, employee work schedule,employee safety records, employee testing records, employee trainingrecords, or any combination thereof.
 5. The incident reporting system ofclaim 4, wherein the at least one client device is further programmed orconfigured to scan the at least one employee data resource to obtain theemployee data, and transmit the employee data to the at least one servercomputer.
 6. The incident reporting system of claim 5, wherein the atleast one employee data resource comprises at least one of a barcode andan RFID transponder.
 7. The incident reporting system of claim 1,wherein the at least one server computer and/or the at least one clientdevice is programmed or configured to determine an assignment of faultfor the incident to at least one party of a plurality of partiesinvolved in the incident based at least partially on at least onealgorithm and the incident data.
 8. The incident reporting system ofclaim 1, wherein the at least one client device is further programmed orconfigured to display a map interface, and receive map data from the atleast one server computer, the map data comprising at least one of thefollowing: a pin displaying the location of an incident, an icondisplaying the severity of the incident, a brief description of theincident, suggested route options, or any combination thereof.
 9. Theincident reporting system of claim 1, wherein the at least one clientdevice is further programmed or configured to display an alert interfaceand receive alert data from the at least one server computer, the alertdata comprising at least one of the following: emergency alert, locationto avoid alert, employee testing alert, employee training alert, or anycombination thereof.
 10. The incident reporting system of claim 1,wherein the at least one server computer and/or the at least one clientdevice is programmed or configured to: determine an output volume levelof the at least one client device; and generate an alert or notificationif the output volume level is below a predetermined threshold.
 11. Theincident reporting system of claim 1, wherein the route of the at leastone client device is color coded based at least partially on a spacingof location waypoints recorded by the at least one server computer, suchthat portions of the route where location waypoints are spaced at afirst distance are color coded differently than portions of the routewhere location waypoints are spaced at a second distance closer than thefirst distance.
 12. The incident reporting system of claim 11, whereinthe replay user interface comprises at least one selectable optionconfigured to control a visual replay of the route taken by the at leastone client device.
 13. A computer-implemented method for incidentreporting and notification, comprising: providing a client device ineach vehicle of a plurality of vehicles transporting a material;generating, by at least one client device located in a vehicle of theplurality of vehicles, waypoint data representing a location of thevehicle; transmitting the waypoint data from the at least one clientdevice to at least one server computer at predetermined intervals;generating, by the at least one server computer, a replay user interfacebased on the waypoint data received from the at least one client deviceover a period of time, the replay user interface comprising a route ofthe vehicle displayed on a map; generating, on the at least one clientdevice, at least one incident reporting interface configured to receiveincident data from at least one of the client device and a user of theclient device, the incident data comprising at least one of thefollowing: a location of an incident, a time of occurrence of anincident, a textual description of an incident, a party involved in anincident, or any combination thereof; capturing at least one image of anincident with a camera unit of the at least one client device;associating the at least one image with the incident data; andtransmitting the incident data, the at least one image, and noise datafrom the at least one client device to the at least one server computer.14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, further comprising:capturing, with at least one microphone while the vehicle is beingoperated, noise data; and transmitting the noise data from the at leastone client device to the at least one server computer.
 15. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the noise datacomprises sound levels for ambient noise occurring during operation ofthe vehicle.
 16. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, furthercomprising: generating a color coded route based at least partially on adistance between waypoints reported by the at least one client device,such that portions of the route where waypoints are spaced at a firstdistance are color coded differently than portions of the route wherewaypoints are spaced at a second distance closer than the firstdistance.
 17. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, furthercomprising: generating a visually animated replay of the route traveledby the vehicle on the replay interface.
 18. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 13, further comprising generating, with the at least oneserver computer, at least one report based at least partially on theincident data and the waypoint data.
 19. A computer program product forreporting incidents experienced by a vehicle transporting a material,the computer program product comprising at least one non-transitorymedium including program instructions that, when executed by a mobiledevice, cause the mobile device to: generate waypoint data representinga location of the vehicle at predetermined time intervals; transmit thewaypoint data to at least one server computer; generate at least oneincident reporting interface configured to receive incident data from atleast one of the client device and a user of the client device, theincident data comprising at least one of the following: a location of anincident, a time of occurrence of an incident, a textual description ofan incident, a party involved in an incident, or any combinationthereof; capture at least one image of an incident with a camera unit ofthe client device; associate the at least one image with the incidentdata; transmit the incident data and the at least one image from the atleast one client device to the at least one server computer; determine avolume level of an audible output of the client device; determine if thevolume level is below a predefined threshold; and in response todetermining that the volume level is below the predefined threshold,generating at least one alert.